Crime & Justice

Anna Nicole Smith prescription trial comes to a close

An L.A. jury will soon begin deliberations in the Anna Nicole Smith prescription drug trial. Two doctors and the model’s longtime companion are accused of writing phony prescriptions for her. Closing statements wrapped up yesterday.

The charges against Howard K. Stern and the two doctors aren’t linked to Smith’s death from an overdose of prescription painkillers. But it hangs over the trial.

Prosecutors say Stern and the doctors conspired to keep the blonde actress and model doped up. The hint is – “... and you know what happened next.”

The lawyers for the doctors say they prescribed painkillers for Smith no differently than they would have for any other patient; they say it was up to her to use them correctly. They also say prosecutors wouldn’t have pursued charges if Smith hadn’t been a celebrity.

The lawyer for Howard K. Stern went further in his closing statement. He blasted prosecutors for trying to “trash Anna as an out of-control addict.”

He said Smith endured chronic pain – and she and Stern trusted the medical advice of the doctors that prescribed her painkillers.